keepitlive

Latest posts by keepitlive

Verdun, the tuber feels very firm (I think it was excessive pressure from my thumb when testing firmness that bruised it in the first place). When you say 'cut the tuber', is this to remove the damaged part? Should I then dust it with sulphur powder?

I lifted my dahlias about 10 days ago and they are currently upended in a large cardboard box in the garage to drain any moisture. I think I bruised one tuber because it has a beetroot coloured stain on a small area. Will this tend to rot or can it be left?

An important factor is the compaction of the soil. If your soil is loose and crumbly, then no amount of posts driven into the ground is going to support the required depth of soil.

I built some raised beds a few years ago. Our soil is light and sandy (no good for gripping posts) and full of stones that constantly send the posts out of true. So I concreted them in place (1 in each corner and 1 in the centre of each of the long sides for the largest beds).

Because it's a sloping site facing north, I wanted to bring the north-facing side of each bed up to the horizontal to get more sun. As a result, the north-facing sides are between 350mm and 400mm high, while the south-facing sides are 200mm

For 2 smaller beds (1.8m x 1.2m), I used 4 posts, 1 in each corner, while 2 larger beds (3.6m x 1.2m) have 1 in each corner, plus 1 in the centre of each of the long sides.

The timber I used was all 50mm thick, width either 150mm or 200mm. Screws were Timber-Tite, size 6.5 x 80mm and 6.5 x 145mm. Like most timber, some of the boards have 'dished' across their width, but the screws have held everything together very securely. Scaffolding boards are thinner (usually 38mm), so would need more supports to prevent bowing.

On the theme of disappearing industries and the effect on whole communities, did either of you see Sting's New York concert of the music from his play 'The Last Ship', shown on BBC 4 a few months ago?. Great music & musicianship, very moving.